Love me some progress

With Lucy, as with Connor, I had Intrauterine Growth Restriction.  This is a condition in which the unborn baby is smaller than it should be because it is not growing at a normal rate inside the womb.  Clearly our babies have been smaller with a combined weight of seven pounds six ounces.  One of the risks:  hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).  With a blood sugar of 25, Connor had an IV placed and was started on Dextrose 10% at eight ML per hour.  Prior to every feed, his blood sugar was tested and if it was above 60, we were able to decrease the IV dextrose by one ML/hour.  Over the next three days he would be above sixty and then below sixty at alternating feeds.  It was slow progress, but still moving in the right direction.

Friday at his evening feed, Connor finally latched.  We started offering breastfeeding at each meal, then following up with a bottle with fortified breast milk.  If I was not at the hospital, the nurse would offer his feed in a bottle and whatever he could not finish would be through his NG tube.  His eating skills were improving greatly.  By Saturday afternoon his blood sugars had stabilized at 70 and we were able to decrease the IV fluids to 2 Ml/hr.  The doctor decided to leave the IV at 2 ML/hr overnight and by Sunday morning it was stopped.

Sunday morning we spoke with the neonatologist and formed a new plan.  We would allow him to breastfeed and then offer only 10-15 ML of fortified milk after.  We needed to see if he could maintain his blood sugar without giving him a specified amount of milk.  Sunday we hit a huge milestone.  Connor consumed all but one feed by mouth and did three of those feeds by breastfeeding all while maintaining sugars over 60.  We are so proud of his progress.

Today, we adjusted the plan slightly.  First, the NG tube is coming out.  HOORAY!  Only seven days with that tube, it's a miracle!  Next, we are not measuring any intake.  Lastly, we will only take blood sugars every six hours.  If we maintain this with some good weight gain, we can possibly head home by the end of this week.

We want to thank everyone for the prayers.  They worked and we are getting a hang of this whole eating thing.  As much as we love that Connor's sugars are above 60, we really would be more comfortable with them in the 80's.  So prayers that his body can adjust as we alter his feeds would be much appreciated.

Pictures to follow when I get some time to download!